Proper Form for a Lady?

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

A lady of the times is walking down the boardwalk in town to do some shopping, when she drops her reticule. There are no gentlemen nearby to pick it up for her, just some ne'er do wells hanging out by the saloon across the road.

What is the proper way for her to retrieve her reticule?

a) does she bend over, risking her dress showing the outline of her fanny?

b) Does she squat, risking the very unladylike pose of having her knees separated?

c) ?? Something else?

I've wondered about this one for a while.

AnnieLee

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

Whatever you do, just make sure you do it in a very reticular manner.

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

Whatever you do, just make sure you do it in a very reticular manner.

Why Captain!! I had no idea you were a smart aleck!!!



AnnieLee (it really was a serious question)

[Four-Eyed Buck]

If the lady was carrying a parosol with a hoked handle, could she not use the handle to retreive it?.........Buck

[Silver Creek Slim]

She might find a gentleman (non-ne'er do well) to pick it up for her.

Slim

[Terry]

I believe that kneeling would be proper, making sure her dress still covered everything.  A proper lady would never squat   Depending on time, place, etc.  it would have been rare to see a lady unescorted in the west.  Shopkeepers wife, someone who worked in town would have been more common to see.  Eastern towns would be somewhat more lax as they would have been considered more gentile.....

[Russ T Chambers]

Not knowing for sure, I would have to agree with Terry.  Going down on one knee (as in a man formally asking for yor hand in marriage), not letting either ankle show (not a problem for him), might meet the social requirements.

[Sergeant Smokepole]

Lord, I hope she bends over showing the outline of her fanny............

[Camille Eonich]

One should be able to squat and still keep thier legs together...I can anyway.

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

What's the differnce 'tween a squatter and a nester?

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

What's the differnce 'tween a squatter and a nester?

Errr... I think a squatter takes up residence in a house that is owned by someone else, while a nester moves into abandoned places, or builds his own house on unclaimed property?

AnnieLee

[Delmonico]

Yer both wrong and I got to close.  Try to get back and help on both problems, if not tonight in the mornin' cause I got the propr soulution to both.

[Delmonico]

The suspense a'll kill ya.

[Silver Creek Slim]

The suspense a'll kill ya.

Slim

[Foothills Drifter]

Howdy......
At the risk of sounding crude.....I'd go for 'B' 

Good shootin......
Vern...

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

Thought about it, and consulted with a strange guy in Nebraska with a bird in his back seat.

I think the "proper" way for her to pick it up would be to make sure her back was to a wall, then to dip down, one foot behind the other, in a deep, modified curtsey until she could retrieve her purse.  If necessary, the rear knee could touch the ground and she'd still retain her modesty. It would be much like a genuflection.

<Tsking at the gents who chose "b">




AnnieLee

[Foothills Drifter]

Howdy......
'b' is more exciting..............

Good shootin......
Vern...

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

Howdy......
'b' is more exciting..............

Good shootin......
Vern...

Which is precisely why a "proper" lady wouldn't do it!



AnnieLee

[Foothills Drifter]

Howdy......
Times have changed! However....proper IS still proper...and exciting is still exciting  I think I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks 

Good shootin......
Vern...

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

I have no doubt in my mind that if an otherwise proper, and unattached young lady knew that a man in whom she was interested was watching, she might very well "forget" and bend to pick up her reticule.


Aye, the times have changed, but I am both old enough and young enough to remember my own mother's admonitions against bending and squatting while in public. They just weren't done. That is the source of my question.


AnnieLee